Wendell R. Ferguson
Montford Point Marine
Wendell R. Ferguson
Sergeant. USMC
1944-1946 & 1950-1951
Cpl. Wendell R. Ferguson Dallas, 1946
I’m really proud of my Marine service. The way we were trained and what we went through, we had more pride about ourselves than other branches.
I was born in 1926 and grew up in Dallas. They drafted me into the Navy in 1944 when I was 18. We were there at the post office. I had one semester of ROTC at West Virginia State College, so I knew a little bit about rank. I asked the Naval Chief where we were going. He said some of us were going to cooking school and the rest of us were going to submarine school. He said to take my choice and I said I didn’t want either one of them. He told me to go down the hall to the last door. I saw that great big USMC over the door and I knew I didn’t want no Marine Corps. I went back and told the chief I’d go to submarine school. He said, “Don’t tell me, tell that man in there.” So, I walked into that office. He said, “Can I help you?” I said, “No, sir,” and backed out. That’s how I went into the Marine Corps. I knew I couldn’t tell that man that I didn’t want to go.
I took the train from Dallas to Camp Lejeune and Montford Point for boot camp. Boot camp was 13 weeks. It was rough. We got slapped around, knocked around, kicked around and spit in the face.
There were 20,000 Marines that went through Montford Point. Only 600 were supposed to go through. It was an experiment. This was a way to keep the Marine Corps all white. If it worked, they were going to keep them, but they had plans when the war was over to discharge them all. The war got kind of hot and the Marine Corps, being in the Pacific doing most of the fighting, needed depot people to move ammunition.
I was in an ammunition company in Guam. I was sentry on the main gate of the Naval bomb area. Trucks would pick up ammunition for the Navy or Marine Corps. We still had a lot of Japanese on the island and I went on patrols to get the Japanese out of the mountain caves. Some of them didn’t know the war was over.
On Guam we were segregated. The Field Service Depot had two black units. One was a sentry or work detail. The other was an ammunition company. They were loading a lot of ships. You’d be surprised how many jeeps, generators, and crates of ammunition are down there in that ocean.
I was discharged in 1946. My rank was corporal when I got out, but I had a five-year commitment for the reserve. My five years was up just a few months before the Korean War broke out, so they grabbed me. They made me a buck sergeant. I went back in 1950 and spent my time at Camp Pendleton.
I’m really proud of my Marine service. The way we were trained and what we went through, we had more pride about ourselves than other branches. It was strictly business. It wasn’t a summer resort. A lot of people can’t take it. We were trained to kill.
When I came back from Korea, I went to school and became a dental technician. I made false teeth and bridges. In 1963 I moved to Chicago and had a dental lab for about 25 years. Two of my dentists died, and it was hard to stay in the business. I got married again and had three kids to raise, so I started waiting tables until I was 65. Then I was a doorman in a condominium. I retired when I was 75.
On November 23, 2011 all Montford Point Marines received the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of our personal sacrifice and service to our country during World War II. {12-27-2017 • Pflugerville, TX}